Laughing Lama

By Paul Casey.

“Difficulty comes with the third mosquito” – Dalai Lama

how shall we lift the blindness he asks

between fits of laughter

that hides the imperceptible source of their joy?

when we could all be laughing

through the day, through loss,

death. Just imagine the world so

once-stoic, briefcase emissaries now laughing

chuckling bus drivers, beggars in stitches

prisoners in spasms, celebratory dustbinmen

judges. guinness book records

for the longest, loudest howl,

shriek and scream of laughter

most aesthetically pleasing giggle

most people laughing at once

deepest and highest pitches of hysterics

signs in operating theatres

No Laughing During Surgery Please

competitions for the sweetest

most experimental

immediate, quickest off the mark bursts of laughter

most infectious

trios and quartets of laughers

national orchestras of merrymaking

and International public laughing holidays

a ministry of mirth

it’s so simple

he sees

takes a breath

and bursts

into laughter

First published in Virtual Tides, (Salmon Poetry, 2016).

 

 


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